The present invention relates generally to cell culture, and, more particularly, to a fluted culture vessel for both anchored cell and suspension culture.
Oftentimes, it is desirable to grow large amounts of cells primarily for cell by-products, such as insulin, interferon, urokinase or viral vaccines. Simply increasing the number of culture vessels or units to increase the number of cells in culture is not, however, always a practical solution. Culturing, particularly in roller bottles, is expensive, labor-intensive and requires significant capital outlay for equipment such as incubators and rotating apparatuses. Furthermore, simply using a higher number of vessels increases the degree of handling, and thus, the risk of contamination and damage of the vessel and its contents.
One alternative to increasing the number of vessels has been to modify the vessel itself to improve the culture or cell yield per vessel, thereby also increasing the yield of any desired cell by-product. The extent to which a culture vessel can be modified, however, is limited by several factors. For example, a vessel's size and configuration is generally limited by the manufacturing processes and materials employed in its construction. Modifications of the vessel exterior are also usually restricted to those which will fit conventional laboratory equipment such as rotation apparatuses, incubators, and standard agitators, stirrers or shakers. Thus, most modifications have generally been confined to the modification of the vessel's interior growth chamber.
The modification of growth chambers of vessels used for anchored cell culture has been primarily directed to increasing the surface area available for cell attachment and growth. This increase in surface area has been accomplished by the use of various inserts, such as spirals and cell beads, in conjunction with the vessel. However, these methods have several disadvantages, including cost, increased labor, and additional handling Additional handling is particularly undesirable because it increases the risk of contamination and possible exposure of the handler to hazardous materials if such materials are being used in the culture process.
With respect to vessels used for suspension culture, their interior growth chambers have been modified to help disperse and enhance the growth of cells in suspension. Such modifications have resulted in conventional baffled flasks, and the radially-baffled bottle disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,665,035 issued May 12, 1987 to Tunac. However, these vessels are generally adapted only for microbial or suspension culture and are not useful for both anchorage-competent and anchorage-independent cell growth.
Thus it would be desirable to provide a universal culture vessel which can improve the culture or cell yield per unit for either anchored cell or suspension culture, which does not require additional handling and which can fit standard laboratory equipment.